Klopp singles three Liverpool young guns out for praise after West Ham defeat

Jurgen Klopp singled out Liverpool’s youngsters Kevin Stewart, Tiago Ilori and Pedro Chirivella for praise after the team were eliminated from the FA Cup on Tuesday night.

A last-minute winner in extra time from Angelo Ogbonna gave West Ham a 2-1 win and thundered them into the fifth round of the competition after an intense clash that was dominated by the visitors.

Klopp made 10 changes from the Merseysiders’ 2-2 Premier League draw against Sunderland but a mix of youngsters, senior players and those returning from injury gave a good account of themselves.

The Liverpool manager thought his team were the better of the two sides and were unfortunate to lose and exit the competition.

“It’s hard, hard in this moment, we were the better team, we created some really good chances, we didn’t use them,” said Klopp to BT Sport afterwards. “There were lots of decisions that on a better day I’d say were funny decisions. I don’t think it was a free-kick [the decision that led to the winning goal] but I’d have to see it again.

“It’s not easy because we were only here to win. You don’t have to show your best, you just have to go to the next round. The door was wide open for us because we did well but it was not enough.”

Asked about the performances of the youngsters, Klopp said: “Stewart and Pedro did well, I though Ilori did well, too.”